Mouthpiece for musical instruments



Ap 1950 H. v. KLECZKA MOUTHPIECE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Filed May '7, 1947 INVENTOR. HENRY V. KLE CZKA BY \gkg k k Patented Apr. 18, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOUTHPIECE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Henry V. Kleczka, Milwaukee, Wis. Application May 7, 1947, Serial No. 746,511 1 Claim. (01. 84- 398) This invention relates to improvements in mouthpieces for musical instruments classified as brasses.

Players of instruments in this class each have an embouchure which has individual characteristics. For best results, each player must have amouth-piece especially adapted for his own particular embouchure. It is also desirable that a single mouth-piece be variable in the contour and depth of the bowl in order to effect the type of tone obtainable and control the range and flexibility of the player. Attempts have been made to devise mouth-pieces in which the cups or stems are interchangeable so that the mouthpiece may be selectively used with diiferent instruments in the brass section. Non-metallic mouth-pieces mounted on metal stems have also been used in an attempt to improve tone and to protect the mouth of the player from infection. However, these attempts have been deficient in certain respects and have not had wide acceptance. The non-metallic cup and rim do not hold well on the embouchure. It readily slips along the lips and will not remain properly centered on the players embouchure. When the bowl is non-metallic, and the rim made of metal, the player has enough contact with the metal to become infected as easily as with the all metal mouth-piece.

It is the object of this invention, therefore, to

provide a mouth-piece having interchangeable bowls which will stay positioned on the players embouchure and will lessen the opportunity of infection from metal contact.

This object is obtained by providing a stem With a socket into which is fitted a non-metallic bowl.

engages the stem. The lip of the rim is curved and blends in with the rim of the bowl so as to contact the lips of the players an amount sufficient to keep the bowl from slipping to one side of the embouchure. However, the metallic lip of the rim presents only a small area of metal which so contacts the lips of the player; hence, the opportunity for infection, such as verdigris poisoning, is substantially eliminated.

The novel features, which are considered characteristic of the invention, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

The'bowl is held in place by a metallic rim which Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a mouthpiece embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section of the mouthpiece illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the mouth-piece viewed in Fig. 1; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are views in vertical section of non-metallic bowls each having cups of different contours and depths but each being of the same outside dimensions and interchangeable with the mouth-piece.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, the mouth-piece comprises a metallic stem Ill and a non-metallic bowl 20 secured to the stem by a metallic rim 30. The stem III is tubular and has a tapered bore H, the small upper end of which constitutes a throat I2 and the large lower end of which constitutes an opening 13. The lower outer wall of the stem I 0 is tapered, as indicated at M, to adapt the stem to be telescoped in the mouth-pipe of an instrument. The upper end of the stem I0 is enlarged, as indicated at I5, and contains a cylindrically shaped socket "5 arranged coaxially with the stem ID. The outer walls of the socket l6 are provided with external threads I! to detachably hold the rim 30 in place.

Non-metallic mouth-pieces are readily promaterial. In the present embodiment the bowl 20 is machined from round stock bars of methyl methacrylate resin, such as Plexiglas manufactured by Rohm and Haas, or Lucite manufactured by du Pont. The exterior of each bowl 2!! is identical in shape and size. There is a cylindrical portion 2| which has a cylindrical socket I6. A shoulder 22 rests against the top edge of the socket I6 and a small circumferential flange 23 is engaged by the rim 30 to hold the bowl 20 in place in the socket l 6. The bowl 20 is provided with a rim portion 24 which is curved as indicated. A cylindrical portion 25 extends from the rim 24 to the flange 23 in order to accommodate the lip of the rim 30. The curved rim 24 blends into the cup 26. The cup 26 terminates in a throat 21 which correspond to the throat ii of the stem and is in axial alinement therewith to form a smooth continuous passage when the bowl 20 is inserted in the socket l6. However, the shape of the cup 26 is varied depending upon the type of tone required and upon the particular embouchure of a player. Some players require bowls which have cups which are sliding fit m the shallow, such as shown in Fig. 4. Other players may find bowls which have deep cups, such as indicated in Fig. 5, more satisfactory. It has been found practical to provide the bowls 2D in sets of six different cup characteristics varying from shallow to deep. As the bowls are relatively inexpensive compared to the other parts of the mouth-piece, a player may purchase andtry a number ofsuchvaryingzbbwls until he has-found a bowl which is satisfactory. The expense of" such trial and error procedure is very little com pared to the expense which would be involved" if the player had to purchase'a-numberrof 'coms plete mouth-pieces before finding onewhich was. suitable. It is contemplated that thebowls will be numbered'or otherwise identifieditoidistin guish them in accordance to their cup characteristics.

7 One of the difficultieshowever, with a plastic or- 'nonmetallicmouth' piece is that it "slips on the lips of the player anddoes not 'k'eep' the cup properly-'centeredon theembouchure. The metal mouth-pieces do not slip. Howeventhey'have' a tendency to inject the lips of: the player and cause sores and the like. An important feature of this invention- 31$ that' the rim of the cup which is en'gaged bythelips'of the player is comprisedpartly of the curved section 24 of-the non-metallic bowl and partly'fromrthe curved lip 3l f the metallic rim 30. The rim of the mouth-piece contacted by the "lips of the player includes the curved metallic portion 3| and the curved nonmetallimportion 24: However, the metallic por ti0n-3l which is contacted by the lips is rela-' tivelysmall in: area and greatly diminishesthe chance of theplayer from getting lip-infections" from contact. therewith. Such metallic portion oil-the rirn,.however, is sufiicient tov resist slipping. Thus the rim 30 is made of brass or othersuitable metal and'has an internal thread132engageable with the, exterior threads I 'I cfithe stem. The lip? portion: St has asmoothinternalshoulder 33' which engages the flange 23:.to holdthe bowl'2il intplace.

Another feature of'the mouth piece constructedas so described is the factthat the non metallic bowl is substantiall encased in metal. This suflvarying cup characteristics, he selects one which he believes is most suitable. By substantial use of the mouth-piece with the bowl selected, he will determine empirically whether the characteristics of the cup are satisfactory. If they are not, that particular bowl is discarded and the player purchases a bowl of different cup characteristics. Experienced musicians can usually tell whether'thenextbowl to tryshould have a shallower or deeper cup. As eachbowl is interchangeable with the stem and rim, the player will experience no difficulty in selecting and trying flciently retards the loss ofheat so that 'during 7 rest-periods the :mouth-piece will not lose the heat imparted to it during playing. The metal alsodistributes the heat evenly throughout-the bowl.

These characteristics'tend to make the tone more stable and: do away "with prolonged warming up procedure after a rest period.-

With} the mouth-piece soconstructed, theplayer purchasesa unit comprising the stem l0 and the rim 30.: Then from a set of .bowlsofbowls'oi 'difierent cup characteristics. It is only necessary to unscrew the rim 3G in order to remove'a bowl and insert another bowl.

Although only'one embodiment of th invention i shown and described herein, it will be understood" that this application is intended to cover such changes or modifications as come within the spirit of the invention or scope of the following claim:

I claim:

In a mouth-piece for 'brasses, a metallic'stem provided with a cylindrical socket the inner-face of the wall thereof being smooth and extending from the bottom of the socket to the upper end of said stem. and a throat having its upper end terminating at the bottom of said socket, a metallic rim threadedly engageable with the outer periphery of said socket and having a curved lip'forming ametallic outer portion'of'the' rim of said mouth-piece, and a plastic bowl'hav ing 'anouter cylindrical portion removably fitting" in said socket, saidbowl having'a curved rim blendin'gwith said curved lip to form the inner portion of the rim'and the bowl of-said mouth piece'when said bowl is seated in said socket and a secured 'in place by said rim, said bowl having a cup. communicating with the top of said throat when said bowlis held in place in said socket, whereby said bowl may be readily removed, and a bowl of like outer dimensions and differently shaped cup may be readily substituted in said mouth piece.

HENRY V. KLECZKA.-

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in"the file 'of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 7 546,939 Schuster Sept. 24;, 1895- 1,1 78,513 George Apr. 11, 1916' 1,264,673 Mertes Apr. 31, 1918 1,740,013 Gulick- Dec. 17, 1929- 

